It is common practice to provide different seat widths in different portions of an aircraft passenger cabin. It is also common practice to in a given cabin region change the seat size, usually be replacing seats of a first size with seats of a second size. The change in seat size also changes the position of the aisles between seat groups. In a typical wide body aircraft cabin, the seats are divided into three longitudinal groups. There are two side groups, a center group and two aisles, one between each side group and the center group. In some seating sections there are seven seats per row, with each side group having two seats in the row and the center group having three seats in the row. In other seating sections there are six seats per row composed of two seats from each group. Herein, the configuration of seven seats per row will be referred to as a "narrow seat" configuration. The configuration of six seats per row will be referred to as a "wide seat" configuration.
The reconfiguration of a cabin from seven seats per row to six seats per row moves the aisles closer to the center of the aircraft. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,942, granted Jun. 30, 1991 to Robert H. Steidl, and assigned The Boeing Company of Seattle, Wash. the center-seats stowage bins have two positions, a retracted or stowed position and an extended or open position. When the stowage bins for the center seats are initially positioned for access from the aisles of a seven seat per row configuration, a problem can develop when six wider seats are substituted for the seven seats. The aisle location is moved inwardly to where the stowage bins for the center seats, when open, will obstruct the aisle space if left unchanged. This invention provides a way of utilizing the existing stowage bins and some of the existing support linkage for the stowage bins, for repositioning the open position of the stowage bins for the center seats, so that when open the open stowage bins will not obstruct the relocated aisles. This invention involves a simple and low cost revision of the prior art stowage bin and support linkage that is disclose by U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,942. The contents of this patent are incorporated herein by this specific reference.
Presently the bin restriction is achieved by replacing both the upper and lower links which is a high cost modification. This invention has a high cost saving and achieves the same restriction desires by modifying the upper link and replacing or modifying the lower link. At today's costs, the use of a modified upper link will save several thousand dollars per stowage bin.